I still remember the feelings of whiplash. As an undergraduate double major in history and education, I struggled to reconcile the wildly different pedagogical styles of my respective fields. I am deeply grateful for the rigorous quality of my undergraduate history courses, but the methods employed therein could not have been more different from the collaborative active-learning projects assigned in my education courses.
If any instructors could be expected to integrate the latest trends in pedagogical theory, surely it would be the fellow faculty at research universities. Those wrestling with the historical theories of Marx, Foucault, Gramsci, Said, and Butler surely also grapple with Vygotsky, Friere, Shor, McLaren, Darder, or Kozol. Of course, we know this is rarely the case. Pedagogically, we work in a surprisingly conservative discipline. While I have experimented with some creative course structures (most notably my digital history course on slavery and abolition), my survey is organized primarily as a “sage on a stage” lecture. Sure my students read dozens of primary sources, and I work hard to generate active discussion throughout, but the structure of the course differs little from those taught half a century ago. I would be embarrassed by this were it not for the knowledge that I am in good company.
After teaching nearly a dozen of my own courses, I finally feel like I have gotten my sea legs as an instructor, and I slowly hope to include more creative pedagogical assignments and activities. I’m starting small.
If there is a consensus trend in contemporary pedagogical theory, it would be that differentiated assessment is the surest means of reaching different learners and giving students ownership over their work. Designing multiple avenues for the same assignment is a requirement at many secondary schools, but quite rare in college classrooms. Again, I am starting small. Over the past few weeks, my students have read Solomon Northrup’s 12 Years a Slave and last week we together saw the new film. I blogged about our initial discussion here. As with our previous assignments (reading the narrative of Cabeza de Vaca paired with Andres Resendez monograph and then Franklin’s Autobiography with the Franklin Tercentenary museum exhibition), the students are going to write an essay, but I wanted the prompts to reflect their different interests and ambitions.
While at dinner before the movie, I was fortunate to talk more deeply with several students about their intellectual interests and career plans. Several students are finishing their degrees soon and will take positions in investment banking, several others are similarly involved in questions of economics and finance. I also have several teachers who will be taking charge of their own classrooms in a matter of months. As a result, I’ve created three quite different essay prompts that give the students a bit more control over the direction of their essays. Now, nothing about this is unusual, but I’m asking the students to also include a critical reflection on why they chose the question that they did and how it relates to the intellectual questions that inform the rest of their education. The assignment is as follows:
Assessing popular history through a study of Solomon Northrup
Option 1: As we discussed in class, literary critic Saidiya Hartman questions the value of ongoing depictions of extreme slave suffering, calling the participants in such displays spectators, or even voyeurs. She calls instead for witnesses to testify to the horrors of slavery. How does reading the narrative versus viewing the film encourage spectatorship, voyeurism, or witnessing? What does this tell us about the opportunities and challenges of popular history?
Option 2: Presentations of the past are dependent upon market considerations. Whether an academic monograph, a public museum exhibition, or a popular film, all require financing and accordingly expect to at least offset costs through generating revenue. How did the differences in market considerations lead to differences in presentation for the book, exhibition, and film we’ve assessed in class? Use specific examples to defend your arguments.
Option 3: Vastly more people understand the past through popular history than through the work of professional historians. How should teachers use popular history in the classroom? Use specific examples from the narrative and the film in explaining your answer.
**After your essay, include a thoughtful 200 word paragraph explaining why you chose the question that you did. Be specific in connecting your own personal learning goals with the analysis you performed in creating your essay.
